From a long, long time ago
by TheIsraeliGirl
Summary: Stef and Lena get another call from bill about another pair of foster siblings, two Teens who have been in more foster homes than either one can count. When they get moved into the house they must learn to become part of the family, even though they could be ripped away at any moment.
1. Here We Go Again

Chapter one

Stef

I still couldn't believe we were doing this. This is ridiculous. I really don't have anyone else to blame but myself though, Lena gave me an out when bill asked but I just couldn't say no. I know we will not do this if the kids don't want to but I already know their answer and I haven't even talked to them. They know what it's like and with Brandon moved out I think they will be happy about it but probably nervous. As they feed into the living room I prepare myself but Callie ends up talking first.

"What did we do?" She asks in a manner I'm not totally comfortable with.

I stare her straight in the eyes and say, "I haven't noticed anything, should I have?"

Her face becomes bright red at the statement but I decide to move on, we have more important discussions to have.

I stand tall in front of the kids hoping that I will be right about their response. I decide just to rip the bandage off.

"Bill came to use the other day about two kids he needs a foster home for, a brother and sister, the boy 13 and the girl 15."

I hold my breath as the kids start to process the aspect of having more people in the house. Out of no where Jude speaks up.

"Cool, can the boy sleep in our room," he says as he looks to Jesus.

I let out my breath as all my anxiety leaves my body, till it returns because I haven't told them about the kids problems, mostly the girls.

"Before we agree to foster them Lena and I have to share some stuff about them that may influence your decision" I say, looking for Lena's support.

I then look at the kids, all of their faces in different stages of curiosity. Lena then takes over talking.

"Both of the kids are religious," She says.

"So they don't like that your gay?" Jesus asks.

I crack a smile at the boys concern for us.

"No, they are Jewish, that means that they celebrate different holidays then us and may have different ways of living." I say, not really knowing, bill never went into detail.

"Also," Lena state, "The girl has some problems with ADHD and dyslexia that have never properly been addressed so if we do foster the kids Mom and I will be spending a lot of time on her, are you all ok with that?" Lena asks.

There is a long silence as the siblings seem to have a silent conversation with each other then Jesus speaks up

"Yes," he says and everyone else shakes their head like there isn't even a question.

I look to Lena and she smiles, I guess I have a call to make.

/

The girl

I can't believe we are doing this again but at the same time how can I not. I have slept in 7 different beds this year, and that's not including that one house that didn't have beds for us to sleep on. This is the 8th time this year my brother and I are throwing our things into our trash bag as fast as we can so our case worker doesn't get mad.

Bill was actually pretty nice when he was first given our case but like so many people in our life's we just make his life harder. It's not like we try to have to get moved every couple of months but if a kid is missing from school for weeks or shows up to school with black eyes someone is going to notice unless they don't and that really sucks for my brother and I.

As I look around the room to make sure I'm not forgetting anything I hear bill yell for us. I give my brother a smile, pick up his bag for him, and start walking towards the door, thinking good riddance to this house and worrying about the next one.

We drive for a long time making minimal conversation with bill but he doesn't seem to mind, he just keeps talking about how much better this house will be. _Ya sure_ I think, _that's what you said about the last one._

As we turn into what must be the drive way I look up at the house releasing it looked lived in with the basketball hoop in the ally and the big backyard. I have never lived in a house like this but I know not to hold my breath, good things never last.

/

Stef

The kids and I are preparing dinner when the bell rings. The kids are setting the table with two extra seats and Lena and I are cooking pork chops when everyone freezes in anticipation as Lena and I go to answer the door. I turn the stove down and slowly walk hand in hand with Lena as I motion for the kids to stay back. Together Lena and I take a deep breath and I swing open the door to a sight I wasn't quite expecting.


	2. First Impressions

Stef

A head full of rich, messy, curly, brown hair greets me when I open the door but to be honest that isn't what confuses me the most. It's what I'm hearing that really throws me off and that's because the girl with the curly hair is talking to the boy with dirty blond hair in a hushed voice speaking something that definitely isn't English. Listening to the strange words distracts me from my fear and fills me with curiosity. Unfortunately as soon as bill starts talking the young teens on the porch stop talking.

The girl

I give my brother a quick once over as I ask him if he is ready in Hebrew so no one will understand. I'm so focused on my brother that I completely miss Bill coming over and start talking with a blond haired woman and a African American woman.

"And this is Eva and Nate," he says.

He sounds like he is auctioning off a dog or something.

The two women that greeted us let us in. We get lead to the kitchen by the blond one as the other one stays behind to say bye to bill. The blond lady seems to be talking and pointing a lot but I barely notice now seeing four other kids in front of me.

Stef

As I lead Eva and Nate in to the kitchen I start talking about the house and where things like the bathroom are. The more I talk the less I think Eva is listening though, she seems pretty out of it. Nate seems to be following Eva's lead but he seems much more curious about the house. As he looks around his eyes light I as I see him spot Jesus's Xbox. Making a mental note of that I continue talking.

When we get to the kitchen I clear my throat and introduce the new temporary additions to our family.

"Guys," I say, "this is Eva and Nate, the kids that will be staying with us for a while."

Callie

As I look up I almost scream in joy as I see the familiar faces. I can't even believe that they are here. I haven't talked to the siblings since Jude and I's third foster house. While the house itself was crap and the parents didn't really take care aboutof us the one thing I liked was them. In the placement Eva and I became really close because were were in similar situations, taking care of our little brother when we probably still couldn't take care of ourselves.

I look over to Jude, watching him light up at the sight of Nate. I remember that him and Nate got close as well and that he was one of his only friends at that placement.

As I look back at Eva I realize that she doesn't look all that good. Being a kid in foster care is hard but it looks like she is closer to Nate's age then mine. She still has that stunning, uncontrollable, curly mane on her head but she looks like she hasn't eaten in a while. With Eva it was always easy to see what was what happening to her because she always wore some tank top and ripped up jean shorts, I think her first home got her those clothes.

Eva was always bold, in our placement she took all of two days to tell the foster father off for not feeding us, while she got one hell of a beating when it was done she just stood up and told him to go shopping. She was also so smart. By the time we left the placement she was taking classes with the 8th graders at our school, she was in 6th grade. She tried to teach Nate and Jude but it was just not their thing.

I finally shake out of my trance when Jude, with no warning, jumps up and engulfs Nate in a hug that is quickly returned. As Eva and I make eye contact she says,

"So this is where you ended up, good for you." She says with a genuine but guarded smile on her face.

"I missed you, so much," I say as I get up to hug her and Nate.

Eva

I smile as Callie hugs me. I forgot what it felt like to feel safe and not trying to keep someone else safe. Callie helped me keep afloat in our shared placement. Even though it wasn't our worst, I was still young and Nate was starting to fall way behind in school.

My thoughts are interrupted though as Stef clears her throat to get our attention. When Callie and I separate Stef starts talking.

"I see you guys know each other, for the rest of us though, guys this is Eva and Nate, Eva and Nate meet our kids, Mariana, Jesus, Callie, Jude, and Brandon who doesn't live with us any more." She states. Nate and I nod our heads at the introduction.

The other woman comes back from the door with a smile at her face.

"Let's go eat if everyone is ready," she asks. We all start to nod our heads and take our seats at the table as Stef goes and gets what I assume will be our dinner. When I see what she pulled out of the oven though I immediately become rigid.

For anyone else this wouldn't be a problem but Nate and I are Jewish and that has gotten us into some trouble over the years, as it turns out, people don't like Jews, shocker.

Stef

When I set the meat down I see Eva and Nate visibly tense. I look around for what could of caused this when I see them just looking at the meat and realize how stupid Lena and I are. We tell, the kids that because Eva and Nate are Jewish that some changes would happen and I don't even listened my advise.

Of course they can't eat pork because it's not kosher. I look over at Lena who is taking her seat apparently not noticing what I did. I don't know what to do so I take my seat hoping that if they don't eat pork they will make us aware.

Nate

I don't really know what is about to happen. At previous foster homes Eva would always tell the person taking care of us that we couldn't eat pork and they would either tell us to go without a meal or just let us eat the sides the sides. Our last home though wasn't so kind. The foster father there force fed Eva pork and afterwards she threw it up in the bathroom. After Eva stopped mentioning it and it wasn't really a problem as long as we just didn't eat with the family.

As I look up to Eva I see her getting passed the dishes By Callie. I remember Callie from one of our first foster placements. Eva really liked her and she always helped find food that we could eat if the guardians only gave us pork one night.

I see Eva smile to Callie when she passes the pork chop straight to the boy across from me avoiding us entirely. We are almost out of the clear until Lena speaks up.

Eva

"Why don't you guys have some meat," asks Lena

As soon as I hear that I know what is coming. The first night at our last placement comes flashing through my memory and the only thing that I can think of is getting Nate out of there. I sit up straight, look directly in Lena's eyes and the say very calmly, "נתן לָרוּץ(Nate run)."

He takes off going up the stairs to who knows where as everyone but Callie and Jude look up confused.


	3. Run

Authors note: don't own anything.

I would love some feedback and ideas about the story if you have them:)

R&R

/

Eva

The seconds it takes Nate to leave are the longest seconds of my life. No one stops him but I know they can just look upstairs and find him if I don't keep everybody down here in front of me. Keeping my brother safe is always my number one priority and I don't know how to do it in the house that already has six people living in it. I wonder if I can get Callie to go upstairs and protect my brother will I stay down here taking whatever punishment they have for me. At least both of the taking fostering us are women but that doesn't mean they can't hurt me or make Jesus do something. As I steal my will I back up and hope and pray it's just going be punches to the stomach or something else that I can handle.

Callie

As soon as Eva sends Nate running I have a pretty good idea on what's going through her head. When we were together sometimes she would tell stories I had previous foster parents would hurt her because she wouldn't eat what they prepared. I figured though that something really bad must've happened since because never before had to send Nate away and looked so scared. I look around and see Stef look a little bit panicked but knowing. She probably understands that Eva scared about the meat and is just wondering what happened to make her act this way. Lena on the other hand is not so composed. She's frantically looking up the stairs and back to Eva as of one them will run away at any second. She doesn't seem to know why Nate left and hasn't put together that Eva was speaking Hebrew to Nate or why they look so freaked out. I look to Jude and he looks just about ready to go run after Nate, I forgot how much he loved Nate. Nate's a year older than Jude but always listened to his opinions in a way that I don't think anybody ever has, even me. Nate also taught Jude some Hebrew like Eva taught me. After we left Jude still made me speak Hebrew with him just so he wouldn't forget in case he ever saw Nate again, I never really took him seriously but here we are.

As I bring myself back to the present I send Jude upstairs to go and find Nate.

"Nate ללכת לבדוק על,Jude(Jude, go check on Nate)" I say in Hebrew to comfort Eva. She made us learn Hebrew for this situation exactly. She always said that if something bad happened or was about to it would be a way of telling Jude and Nate what to do. I know Stef and Lena won't do anything but she doesn't know that and this will make her feel better, plus it gets Jude out of the room incase Eva breaks down.

As I look back to Eva I see Lena approaching her and before I can stop her she touches Eva.

Eva

It all happened so fast. One moment life's stood still and the next thing I see is Lena coming up to me with her hands in front of her about to hit me.

I shut my eyes tight and drop to the ground, knees hugged into my chest, head down, as I wait for the first blow, and I wait, and I wait.

Stef

As soon as I saw Lena walk up to her the look in her eyes was all I needed to see to realize that this was not going to go Lena's way, but I was to late to stop her.

Before I know it Eva is on the ground, Lena is looking guilty, the twins are scared and Callie has sent Jude off to who knows where in some language I have never heard. But I have to make priorities and currently my biggest priority is the girl in a ball on the ground.

"Mariana, Jesus, please go upstairs and don't bother the boys if you see them please," I say.

After they leave I crouch down to Eva's level, I can now see that instead of the defiant teen who walked in here just an hour ago there is a scared child to take her place.

She is taking fast breaths and is shaking just a little bit and I know what will happen next if I don't get her to calm down and I really don't think anyone can handle a panic attack right now.

"You're alright, you're safe, you're brother is safe, no one will make you do anything you don't want to." I tell her as I sit across from her and she seems to be calming down as Callie sits next to me saying something I don't understand.

"אתה בסדר, אתה בטוח, אתה אחי בטוח, אף אחד לא יגרום לך לעשות משהו שאתה לא רוצה.(You're alright, you're safe, you're brother is safe, no one will make you do anything you don't want to)," She says, and surprisingly enough it works. Eva's breaths are evening out and she seems to be relaxing.

AN: Sry for how short, I have a project do and finals are coming up.


	4. Quesadillas

I don't own anything

This is my first story so if anyone has advice message me or leave a review:). A lot of what I'm writing about is my story and I would love to talk to anyone about mine or there's just message me.

thx:)

Eva

I can't believe that happened, my brother still doesn't know what did end up happening except that Callie hasn't left my side since it happened a hour ago. After the "episode" everyone just kind of ignored the obvious truth behind what had happened in favor of us getting some sleep. Dinner was all but forgotten when I went and got Nate from upstairs and subsequently Jude who was sleeping next to him. Callie and I moved Jude into his bed first seeing as they were hiding in Jude's closet. I then went to wake Nate so he could get settled downstairs. We were all moving very quietly, even Callie who seemed comfortable with Lena and Stef. I felt as if we were walking on eggshells but this wasn't new feeling for me and I was pretty good at it.

As Callie and I started setting up the couch with blankets I sent Nate to the bathroom so me and her could talk. No one speaks for minute until I can't stand the silence anymore.

"So you found a home?" I say as I look around at the pictures on the wall, most of which include Callie and Jude.

"Yeah," She states, "Stef and Lena are really nice, you guys are safe here."

I look at her skeptically, I have been in a lot of foster homes but none of which have I felt truly safe, if there wasn't someone hitting me, there was someone withholding food, if there wasn't someone withholding food, there was always the threat of moving away.

I get distracted as my stomach rumbles. It's now that I remember that all the food Nate and I have had today was a granola bar bill gave us.

"Hungry?" Callie questions. I look at her and think. On one hand at any other foster house taking food without permission, especially on the first night was a big no but on the other hand Callie did say it was safe. I decide it's safe, as long as we don't get caught, after all Nate hasn't eaten all day either, after all, a girls got to eat.

Callie

I know mentioning food was the right way to go. Before she got into the system, Eva, loved to cook even though there wasn't always food in her house. She tried to continue the hobby but it's hard to cook for fun when you are fighting for survival.

As we walk into the kitchen I get a mischievous look on my face. I smile at Eva as I make a break for the tortillas on the counter. Eva cracks up most likely because she knows where I am going with this.

Once I grab the cheese and the pan we are ready to make Eva's famous quesadillas. Eva would make these for us in our old placement on bad days, it was always Nate's favorite dinner.

It starts to feel like old times, the good parts at least. Eva was like a sister to me. She had my back more times than I can count and took punches for not only me but Jude too, for that I can never repay her. She was my first sister, she protected me and the person I cared about the most before she even knew we really us. Looking at her now I see her smile but it looks like she hasn't smile in a while. I know I should've looked for her when we got separated but I had chewed and I thought she had Nate. We just didn't stay in touch and looking at how haunted her eyes are, even when she smiles, I wish we did.

Eva

"I'm going to go find Nate." I say as I am walking out of the room.

I walk out of the room and I'm tense again. I know Callie said the house was safe but I've been told that before. I quietly cross the hallway and go tear Nate apart from the book he's reading. He was reading one of the only books I've managed to get him in Hebrew over the years. I think he might've read it 100 times but to be honest so have I. It's not so much the story that we love but it's the feeling of a place we belong. We don't get to go to synagogue anymore, we don't go to jewish youth group events, we don't celebrate many holidays, we just don't have the time, option or energy to. Every day we fight to just keep our heads above water and some days we can't even do that. A book in our first language makes wherever we are feel like home, even if it's just for a second.

"Nate, Callie and I made something," I say smiling, it has been a while since I have been able to do something like this for Nate.

"Quesadillas?" Nate asks.

"You will just have to come and find out," I say walking into the kitchen. He follows not being able to resist food.

As we walk in I see Callie already eating, I take a seat next to her and rest my head on her shoulder. When life was especially hard, or I had just gotten a bad beating at our old placement Callie would always be there to hear me. In foster care people don't listen to you, you are a object that gets passed around for money. I think her being in foster care helped, she knew what it was like but also listened to my story's, the story's of a kid who got pushed around like I was nothing.

R&R


	5. Sleep

Hey guys, I don't own anything and also trigger warning for talk about non consensual actions

Callie

It's when she lays down on me that I notice it. Eva always had a sense style even when all her clothes were bought at goodwill. Today she was wearing a white and grey tie die tank top with horizontal rips down the back and looking at her back is what caught my attention.

She had scars.

Not just one or two but may, all different shapes and sizes. Some look like they were from a glass, others maybe knives, most I couldn't say. I hold my breath, I know I have scars from beer bottles and cigarettes but not this many. I know I will have to tell moms and probably Jude because Eva wares a lot of more revealing clothing and while she may feel comfortable with it Jude or moms freaking out probably won't help her.

We have been sitting here for a while once I notice the time, it's 12:30 and I have school tomorrow. I don't know if Eva will go to our school this year because we only have a few weeks left but I know that if I don't go to bed soon I won't be able to wake up.

As I shake Eva from her light sleep I say, "E we got to go to bed." As I am saying this she is giving me a look that I can't help but laugh at. It brings me back to the old days when I would be the responsible one and she would be the protector, happy about it or not.

We make our way to the couches when we see Nate lying there taking up most of the couch. Eva and I just chuckle as we head upstairs to get my comforter to sleep on tonight.

I may feel fine leaving Nate alone in this house but I sure as hell know Eva would never imagine to, just like me with Jude on our first night at the Fosters.

As we get comfy on the floor I decided it's time for some girl talk.

"So how was your last house." I say, being carful not to call it her home, when I was young I made that mistake a couple times and she would shut down for weeks because of it, I never really knew why.

"It sucked, more than normal. The only guardian there was a middle aged man an 5 other kids. The guy was an ass, he would hit even the little kids," She said. I know she has had worse homes so I'm wondering why this one was so bad as she continues. "And the guy there, he came into our rooms at night and just, ugh, can we talk about something else." She said as she became less and less comfortable with what she was saying.

After Liam I have a pretty good idea of what she is talking about but I know not to push her. Eva went though a lot, even all those years ago, she had seen more than most people had ever seen.

"Ok," I say. "Let's head to sleep, I have school tomorrow."

"Always the responsible," she says, rolling her eyes. "Fine, I'll sleep, but only because I want to, not because you told me to," She says in a childish way as we both drift into a well deserved sleep.

Sorry for how short it is, I have finals this week and they r killing me but after schools out I will b able to write more, bare with me and don't forget to R&R


	6. Nightmares

I own nothing, trigger for abuse mentioned, basically going forward for the story. I write a lot about

experiences I have had but if you would like to add or suggest something just leave a review or message me:)

Eva (dream)

I'm running. I can't stop. He is behind me, and I can't seem to reach the top of the stairs no matter how fast I run. I hear his yelling getting closer as I finally reach the top and open a door that shuts behind me when I walk in. I catch my breath until I realize there is no way out. I'm in the closet, the one she would lock me in for days at a time, no food, no water, just me in a 5 by 3 closet. I bang on the door, for anyone to let me out when it opens and I fall out right onto him. I yell and thrash around as his greasy hands pull me up by my hair. He pulls me so high up I can smell his breath as he whispers, "Open up."

(End dream)

I shoot up from my sleep panting and sweating. I feel his hands on me and I see him. Before I can register he isn't here I back away so fast I hit the wall causing a loud thud that I barely hear. I shuffle into the corner but I can't shut my brain off. He is on me again and I can't stop him. I smell the beer on his breath and feel the grease from his hands on my body and I can't stop it.

Stef

A thud wakes me. I roll over to see if Lena had done it but she was still fast asleep. I roll out of bed and start my journey downstairs. As I get to the stairs I start to hear some heavy breathing and some shuffling. I quickly walk down the stairs to be greeted with a sight similar to the one earlier that night but in so many ways, so, so much worse.

Eva is huddled into a corner shaking and silently crying. I cautiously walk over to her but she doesn't seem to even register that I am here as she continues to freak out. I can see from here that her breathing is irradiate and she is stuck somewhere in here head.

I don't know what to do. Lena has a degree in child whatever and here I am with a badge and no way to calm this girl down. I try to think of what to do and the only way I can make this better is to bring her out from her trance. I take a breath as I squeeze behind Eva and put her between my legs and hug her with my arms. As she starts to calm down I whisper nothings into her ear telling her she is safe.

All in all it seems to work as she falls asleep in my arms and I follow soon behind her.


	7. The Morning After

Sorry I haven't posted much but my Adhd kinda makes me interested in one thing and not in this sometimes. Plz r&r.

Lena

I hear the buzzing of my alarm while I roll over and pound on the snooze button. I yawn and just lay there diagonally across the bed waiting for Stef to playfully nudge me awake just like every morning but it doesn't come. Soon enough I hear the alarm go off and this time I actually get out of bed, turn off my alarm and go to brush my teeth. I walk out to go and change when I realize Stef isn't in the room with me. I assume she was called in for a case last night and get dressed. I walk down the stairs quietly seeing as it's still 6 am and the kids won't be down till 7. As I descend the stairs I see something that stops me in my tracks. Everyone is sleeping. Callie is curled around Nate, completely encompassing the boy as if to restrain him but this is not what makes me stop. What makes me stop is seeing my beautiful wife on the ground leaning on a wall while hugging a brown mess of curls. It looks as if a tornado went through our living room leaving three very scared kids and one panicked adult. I decide to let them sleep for just a little while longer while I go and make coffee because they all look as if they had barely slept.

After the coffee is made I head back into the room to start waking people up. They can go back to sleep upstairs but I know they will be embarrassed if the other kids see them in this position. I start with Callie because the will be the most comfortable with me waking her. I would wake Stef but I don't think I could do it without waking Eva and I don't think seeing a stranger first thing this morning will do anyone any good.

I lightly shake Callie awake. She yawns and slowly rolls away from Nate.

"It's ok," She says. "Nate sleeps like a rock."

I still don't know how I feel about her knowing these things. Them being here just throws the reality of Callie's and by default, Jude's upbringing in our face. Mariana and Jesus were never in the foster system long, and they were brought to us when they were still young but I guess I always thought Jude and Callie were at least safe for the most part. I now realize just how wrong I was. Callie was curled over a boy she had not seen in years like it was the most natural thing in the world. How often did she have to protect someone like that? Clearly often enough that she knows that Nate won't wake up if she moves.

Callie on the other hand looks like hell. She had bags under her eyes that most likely match Eva and Nate' is whispering but you can hear the effort she puts in her words.

"You should be quite though," she whispers. "Eva sleeps like super light."

"Good to know, can you wake Nate up?" I ask

With a nod she shakes Nate until the blond starts to mutter words I can't understand. The muttering gets a little louder when I realize it's Hebrew. Callie says something back and she scrambles up away from both of us, the nights memory's coming back to him, whatever they is when all hell breaks loose.

He is trying to get to the wall but he accidentally hits a table with a flower vase on it. The vase shatters behind him, shattering. Four things happen at once when this happens. One. Nate, even more freaked out freezes locking eyes with me looking terrified. Two, I step forward trying to grab for Nate to make sure he doesn't cut himself. Three, Stef wakes up. Four, Eva wakes up with a start, ripping herself from Stef's arms to practically jump in front of Nate, subsequently cutting herself on some glass.

Eva is facing me completely blocking me from Nate trying to look threatening but only managing to look scared and tired. There is a small trickle of blood running down her hand but she pays no attention to it as she says,

"Stay away."

I put up my hands trying to look as non threatening as possible as I crouch down.

"I'm not going to hurt him, it was an accident, I get it, I just need you guys to move away from the glass." I say.

They don't seem to have any plans on listening to me until Callie comes up behind me to say,

"She's right, they won't hurt you, seriously, I'll sit with you."

That seems to do the trick as Eva slowly gets up not taking her eyes off me except to help her brother. Callie motions them to sit on the couch and they do. Stef who was just awakened went to go get a dust pan as I picked up the bigger shards of glass. Not knowing what to do about the foster siblings I let Callie take them upstairs when she asks.

"I think we should let Callie stay home from school today with Eva and Nate, I know we need to take them for placement testing but I think Callie being there would help them feel more comfortable." I explain.

"I know," she replies. "But they can't depend on Callie anymore, they are safe here, they need to know that and learn that. Don't you think having Callie always around will make them not trust use," she asks.

"I think if we force them to be comfortable with us before they are they will end up being more scared of us then they already are. Right now Callie is the only person Eva trusts to protect her and Callie, Jude, and Eva are the only people Nate trusts at all. I think it will just hurt them more." I say.

Stef nods her head in agreement as we finish cleaning up the glass and head to the kitchen to make breakfast.

Through breakfast Stef and I watch the stairs to see if Eva, Nate and Callie will come for food but only the twins and Jude do. Callie runs in for a second but only to grab a couple pancakes and to tell Stef and I that Eva and Nate fell back asleep.

Eva

I wake up to a soft knock on dark brown door. I shift in the bed only to wake up the other two people in it. The clock reads 1037 as the events of the previous night come back to me. Someone yells come in as a blond haired woman walks in and sits on the other bed in the room.

"Good morning guys." The blond says, "We have to head to school for a little while today, you guys need to take a placement test before you go to school next week," she states staring at Nate and I. "Be ready in 20 and grab so food if you're hungry, we could be there for a couple hours." She explains and she rises to leave the room.

20 minuets later everyone was dressed as we piled into a grey mini van parked in the driveway.

"We will meet Lena there, she is setting up the test for you guys" Stef says.

The drive there is silent, Nate and I to nervous to speak, neither of us are very good at school, it just has never been a priority for us, I try to help Nate but there just never is enough time.

As we pull up I can't help but notice how beautiful the school is. It's on the beach. The air smells of salt and you can faintly hear the sounds of kids in class. I used to love the beach. I would take Nate whenever I had the opportunity and means but we haven't been for the longest of times. I still love the beach, I just didn't realize how much I missed it.

We walk into the building, down the hall, into a room that leads to another room that has a desk with a paper and pencil on it. Nate was taken to a different room a little while ago but Callie promised that she would watch out for him. I am told by a lady with white hair to sit and began when I'm ready so I do.

Stef

"He passed with a 75," the secretary says.

I breath a sigh of relief along side Lena. It's not a great score but he got in, he will go into 8th grade with Jude and he will be fine.

"Eva on the other hand, well, her test scores are more confusing." She explains.

"How can test scores be confusing?!" I exclaim.

"Well as you know for high schoolers there are two different tests, math and English. To pass you must get a average of 60%. The math test is weighed slightly heavier than the English because it goes through some college math. Overall Eva scored a 62% average." She says.

"Ok then what's the problem? She passed." I say.

She responds, "Well she got a 5% on the English portion, it is geared towards sophomores and with this score, she is extremely behind her peers in English, she may even be illiterate but she would have to get tested. That is the bad news, though there is good news. She scored 100% on the math portion, she shows a complete understanding of mathematics well above her age range, going so far as deriving formulas for some problems she may have not been taught yet."

I stair at her trying to comprehend what was just said about this girl we just met yesterday. Lena must sense what I am thinking as she asks,

"So what does this mean for Eva?"

"Well," the secretary states, "Eva will need help in school, she can barely read and write English or at least shows almost no ability to communicate her thoughts on paper. She will need a tutor and help at home and probably need to take English classes with at least the freshman, maybe even with lower grades. Her math scores though test her out of any math we offer here. She does not need to take any further math courses here to graduate, if she would like she could probably take some at a college near by but you may want to test her further to make sure she is not board, looking at her previous transcripts she seemed to be bored in her math based classes causing trouble it still passing with very high scores. Basically what I am saying is Eva is smart and from what Lena has told me, she has done this all on her own. With all of this being said she is still a kid, she has sever ADHD and could not sit still or focus for most of the test. This kid will be high maintenance, just be prepared for that, she's not average."

I can't even think. This girl who was having a terrible nightmare not 8 hours can barely read English and could probably solve pi if we gave her an hour. It's scary, no one realized any of this, it's not in her school records at all. I look at Lena and can tell she's thinking the same thing I am, what are we going to do?

thx for reading, please leave a review or pm me with suggestions for what you want next or if you want to discuss some characters with me.:)


	8. I Don't Speak English

Lena

After we get home Stef sends Callie and the siblings to play on Jesus's Xbox. As we make our way upstairs neither of us make a noise, needing time to collect our thoughts. I follow Stef into out bedroom and close the door behind us as Stef sits on the bed. I join her and we both release a breath we didn't realize we were holding.

"What are we going to do?" It's Stef who breaks the ice and asks the question we have both been thinking about ever since we left school.

"I have no idea. Do we split up the kids or will that just cause more harm than good?"

"And even if we do split them up, where would we send Eva, we don't exactly have the money for a specialty school and even if we did would sending her there for just a couple months while she is with us really help?"

"I don't know, but can she really thrive at Anchor Beach. Most kids with ADHD and Dyslexia are smart but not in the normal classroom but you heard how she did on the math portion of the test, I mean the proctor told us she needs to be in college classes for gods sake." I can't contain myself any more, I don't know what to think about this girl. She reads at a freshman or lower level but can do math I probably can't even think about.

"I think we need to send her to Anchor Beach, it really comes down to the siblings staying together, Eva will not do well anywhere without Nate and maybe with him there she will become relaxed enough to learn." Stef say and in all honesty I know she is right. Neither Nate or Eva will do well without the other. We saw it with the twins and with Callie and Jude. But I also know that Eva will probably sleep though all her math based classes like chemistry but struggle through a class like 8th grade English.

"Well we can set Eva up with a tutor and have her be put into a specialized English program to see if we can get her caught up."

"Ok," Stef says with a smile, "let's tell the kids, Eva and Callie seemed a little nervous in the car."

"Sounds like them," I say as I return the smile.

—

It was a hard decision but I new the real hard part was about to happen. I saw this all the time as vice principal. Kids who have trouble in school get defensive about it. Kids who are in the system, probably been put down and abused, and has trouble in school beyond there control, I have a feeling shits about to hit the fan.

Stef and I regroup in the kitchen and we call down Nate and Eva.

"What's up?" Eva says in a not so happy tone. I can help but notice that her brother is just slightly behind her reminding me of how Callie and Jude were when they first entered our home.

"Well we got the results from the test you guys took, we are happy to confirm that both of you will be attending anchor beach" Stef said excitedly.

"We are really proud of both of you, Nate I bet Callie would love to hear the news, wanna go upstairs and tell her for us, we need to talk to Eva for a minute." I can almost see the shift in Eva's demeanor when I ask Nate to do that. She become defensive and shifts he weight as if to prepare to take a hit. She whispers something I can't understand to Nate and he quickly makes his exit. I know we need to put her at ease but I can tell she doesn't trust us. I'm still running through options when Stef takes over.

Stef

As soon as I see Eva change into a defensive position I know I have to deescalate this problem before it become one. "Let's sit down, no one is in trouble we just need to take about your test scores." As I sit I make sure to make no sudden movements and Lena does the same. "So the good news is you did great on your math test, better than great, so good that during the summer we may want to sign you up for college courses." I make sure to emphasize that I am praising her because by the look on her face not many people have done that. I also throw out that she could be here this summer, after all it's about a month away. "So that's really good but it seems your a little bit behind in English," she cuts me off before I finish,

"You should see how smart I am in my language." She says angrily. I seem to have struck a nerve. I can see she is pissed. Her fist clenches and unclenches and I just can't think for a minute.

Eva

I take a deep breath and count to 5 in my head. I already knew I sucked at English, I didn't need another stupid test telling me this. I didn't need another set of stupid foster parents telling me I was dumb just because I didn't speak their language as good as mine. I remember home number 8 where I went to a school where every time you got a D or lower on an assignment they would call home. My foster father didn't appreciate getting called every 2 or 3 days about his stupid, illiterate foster kid who kept failing tests. That house gave me a lot of bruises but that was also the house that Nate taught me how to read in when the foster parents weren't home.

It was day two of this family and I was already done with the annoying cop who thought I was stupid.

"I'm going to me room." I make this a statement, with no room for argument. I know that if I can leave now no one will hit me.

"Wait!" Lena says but I already have my back turned and am walking towards the stairs with no plans on stopping.

AN

 **So what do you think? I know I haven't written in a while but I have a lot of school and that takes priority. I are basing this off of my life experiences (some past and some current) and I would love input especially from people who have a problem or two like Eva always R &R and if you don't want to put your input in a review PM me:)**


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